Climate control

Wednesday

To win a Central Massachusetts high school golf championship, it’s not enough to be the longest off the tee or possess the softest touch around the greens.

You also need to cope with the cold.

The Central Mass. Division 1, 2 and 3 golf championships are played in late October when the temperature and leaves are falling, but golf scores are not. It’s a time when shooting in the 40s takes on new meaning.

Tantasqua golf coach John Keenan remembers when a light snow fell during the state match at Waverly Oaks in Plymouth in 2000.

“I can almost guarantee it will be cold on the day of the districts,” Keenan said. “It could be beautiful the day before and beautiful the day after, but freezing the day of the districts.”

Most high schools switched from golfing in the spring to the fall because courses are in better condition and less crowded. The players are better prepared from having played all summer.

Many schools squeeze in as many as four matches the first week of school. Unfortunately, the most important matches, the Central Mass. and state championships, are played in the worst weather.

“We’ve had terrible weather in the spring, too,” Keenan said. “I remember playing the districts at Pine Ridge in a downpour during an eclipse of the sun in June.”

Some high school golfers arrive at the course in short sleeves, no matter what the temperature may be. Others come more prepared, dressed in layers to stay warm.

“I try to wear as much as I can and still be able to swing the club,” St. Peter-Marian junior Brian Foley said.

Foley wears Under Armour, a golf shirt, a GOR-TEX jacket and a stocking cap.

Foley constantly blows on his hands to keep them warm. When it’s cold enough, he wears mittens — the kind you wear to make snowballs. He takes them off to swing or putt, then puts them back on.

Leicester High golf captain Dylan Jarmulowicz wears a baseball cap no matter how much the temperature drops, but he dons two jackets and handwarmers, those packets that stay warm for 12 hours. Some golfers even slip their head covers on their hands to keep warm.

To keep hands his warm during a match in freezing rain, Grafton High senior Tim Thiesing kept his hands warm by slipping them inside his shirt and in his armpits.

Gardner High senior Corey Grenier slips on two pairs of socks when it’s especially chilly.

“Try to stay as warm as you can so you can focus a lot better,” Grenier advised. “If you’re really cold, that’s pretty much all you’re thinking about. You’re not really focusing on your shot and where you want to hit it.”

You can’t swing as hard wearing so many layers of clothing, so Gardner junior Andrew Johnson recommends taking an extra club when it’s cold, maybe even two extra clubs when it’s windy.

“The ball does not travel as far,” Shrewsbury High sophomore Nick Erlichman agreed. “You have to loosen up more.”

Erlichman thinks the key to playing in cold is making solid contact.

“If you hit one off the toe,” he said, “it will affect it more than in the summer, and your hands will sting.”

Playing in the cold has some advantages. Grenier learned to keep his ball low in the cold and wind, and he uses that shot in all kinds of weather now.

Foley soared to a 95 in the rain at the Central Mass. Division 1 Tournament at Oak Hill Country Club in Fitchburg last October.

“I’ve never been under that type of cold,” Foley said. “I wasn’t loose. I never felt like I could go out there and perform the shots. I tried to rush everything to get warm. I wasn’t thinking about what club to hit. It destroys your thinking.

“I’d definitely rather play in 100 degrees than freezing cold because I’m more loose.”

To prepare for the cold, Foley practices early in the morning at Cyprian Keyes Golf Club, in the rain if possible.

To Foley, the cold affects his approach shots the most.

“You’re trying to make a smooth swing,” he said, “and you’ve got to make a divot in the ground that’s harder and your fingers are pretty much numb.”

Putting in the cold, on the other hand, is easiest to him because he’s so compact and stiff — the way you’re supposed to putt.